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8 March 2011

Chantal Sutherland Not Only Not Guilty, She Was Innocent Too

There is a similarity between the OJ Simpson trial and the Inquiry result of the 2011 Santa Anita Handicap, both OJ and Chantal Sutherland were proclaimed not guilty. However, unlike OJ, Chantal Sutherland was innocent as well.

It took Chantal Sutherland winning the biggest race of her career for me to watch an entire race from California this year (ahem the takeout hike), though I didn't watch it live, I was still interested enough to view it on Youtube after the fact.

My first reaction was to side with DQing Game On Dude because Sutherland whipped the horse with the left hand at the time of the alleged foul. But thanks to Youtube, and the ability to stop the video frame by frame, you can clearly see, that although Game On Dude carried the competition a little wide around the turn, during the stretch run, Game On Dude did not even move out an inch. Don't believe me? Check the distance between the horse and the rail, or check the tractor tracks on the race course. It was Twirling Candy who came in ever so slightly, knocking Game on Dude off balanced. This made the second bump, which was more noticeable during the race, a non factor.

Here is the race with the full inquiry film:

Admittedly, I've always been a Chantal Sutherland fan. But I am not being biased here at all. The Stewards got it right.

I'm also a strong believer that if the Stewards can't make a conclusive call within around 3 minutes, the results should stand. I also now think that their results should never be overturned, even if new evidence is presented.

I read a comment, by a knowledgeable horse racing enthusiast (it might have been on The Paulick Report), that stated calls like this should be deemed no different than calls made by the referee under the hood in an NFL game. If there is not enough evidence to overturn the play or the race, the result on the field or track should stand. Even though referees have been known to blow the call under the hood, the results of the play still stand forever, as does the score of the game, etc. And there is probably a lot more money on the line during some of these calls than any horse race, even if it has a million dollar purse.

Too bad Two And A Half Men (Chantal's favorite show) looks like it is toast. Imagine Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) picking up "actress" Chantal Sutherland (playing herself as a jockey) at the track and then taking her home. The jokes would write themselves. It might not be realistic though, because at 35, Chantal is too old for Charlie.

The Thoroughbred Times has a free preview of their new Canadian horse racing edition. There is an article on Fort Erie by Perry Lefko. The Editor (at the start of the issue) states Fort Erie is located in Eastern Ontario. Could be worse. He could have said it was located in Eastern Canada. For those who don't know where Fort Erie is located, Sarah Palin could say she could see Fort Erie from her backyard (if she lived in Buffalo NY), and she wouldn't have got any flak for it.

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Game On Dude may have reacted adversely to the left handed whip, but he maintained a straight line to begin with.The slight bump was the straw that made him go erratic, so the second bump was caused by the first brush.The glove does not fit.

You're the one who needs to watch again. Game On Dude did NOT maintain a straight course! Game on Dude most defintitely drifted out a couple of paths under left handed whipping. It wasn't even slight - TWO paths is not slight. It's obvious and dramatic.

It was so close. I have watched that clip so many times and keep on coming up with a different answer each time. It might have looked like Game on Dude drifted a little bit. It is just crazy to me how well kept these fine horses are. I talked with a guy who had a few race horses and the things that they had to do with the hoof supplements alone was too much for me to grasp.